PERTH, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 25: Quewin Nortje of South Africa is tackled by Marcos Moneta of Argentina during the match between South Africa and Argentina on day two of the HSBC Perth SVNS at HBF Park on January 25, 2025 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Will Russell/Getty Images)
Quewin Nortje will make a first appearance for the Blitzboks in the 2026 season next weekend after being named in the squad to travel to Hong Kong for the first of the three Sevens World Championship tournaments.
The 23-year-old flyer had a frustrating time with injuries this season and missed all six regular stops of the series.
But he is now fit and ready and will be an important cog in the Blitzbok attack at the Cathay Pacific/HSBC SVNS Hong Kong, with a strike rate of 32 tries in 12 tournaments.
Blitzboks make three changes
The inclusion of Nortje, whose last appearance was at the inaugural World Championship tournament in Los Angeles, where the Blitzboks won the title in May 2025, is one of three changes to the squad that completed the series in New York last month with a fourth tournament win out of six played.
Injuries picked up on the North American leg, where they also won in Vancouver, have ruled Christie Grobbelaar, Dewald Human and Gino Cupido out.
Zain Davids and Jayden Nell complete the travelling squad for the tournament at Kai Tak Sports Park, where organisers have divided 12 teams into three pools of four.
Snyman said they had to reset at the Stellenbosch training base ahead of the three World Championship events, in Hong Kong, Valladolid and Bordeaux.
“We started over,” he said. “This is a new challenge and we have some players coming back, so we had to align first and the best way to do that is to start at the basics.
“We worked hard in training, pushed each other very hard and reminded ourselves of our objectives at the start of this campaign. Doing well in Hong Kong was one of them, so we know what we are training for.”
He said they still aim to build the “best team in the world”, with players outside the squad working towards that goal too.
The squad will depart for Hong Kong on Thursday.
Blitzbok pool schedule (all matches live on SuperSport, SA times):
Friday, 17 April
5.16am: Uruguay
8.49am: Spain
Saturday, 18 April
6.13am: Argentina
Springbok Sevens squad for Hong Kong:
Ryan Oosthuizen, Impi Visser (captain), Zain Davids, Ronald Brown, Selvyn Davids, Siviwe Soyizwapi, Shilton van Wyk, Quewin Nortje, Donavan Don, Sebastiaan Jobb, David Brits, Tristan Leyds, Jayden Nell.
